Holy crap! Seth Greenberg picks us...

[hurleyfor3]

...to get to the national championship game, where we lose to Michigan State. We beat Kentucky to get to the Final Four.

[FerryFor50]

...to get to the national championship game, where we lose to Michigan State. We beat Kentucky to get to the Final Four.

Bilas picked Duke to lose to L'Ville in the elite 8.

Digger has Duke beating L'ville to get to the final 4.

Jay Williams has Duke in the elite 8 losing to L'ville.

Not sure if this is good or bad...

[OldPhiKap]

...to get to the national championship game, where we lose to Michigan State. We beat Kentucky to get to the Final Four.

And Digger has us to the Final Four. The two Duke guys have us losing to Louisville.

Dick has us losing to Michigan after the round of sixteen.

[Duke95]

Somebody check Greenberg's BAC.

[_Gary]

Wow, all 5 ESPN analysts predict MSU to win it all. Not sure I can ever remember such a consensus. Not that I disagree.

[OldPhiKap]

All of them have Sparty. Wow.

[Dukehky]

Wow, all 5 ESPN analysts predict MSU to win it all. Not sure I can ever remember such a consensus. Not that I disagree.

It's because the Big 10 is so strong, I mean they win tons of national championships. Oh wait...

[FerryFor50]

It's because the Big 10 is so strong, I mean they win tons of national championships. Oh wait...

Sparty will be fine as long as they don't have to play Carolina.

[gurufrisbee]

It's because they picked Mich St at the beginning of the season. They still want to look smart. YOu see it happen in college football every season - pre-season picks STILL getting undeserved media love at the end of the season

[Bluedog]

It's because they picked Mich St at the beginning of the season. They still want to look smart. YOu see it happen in college football every season - pre-season picks STILL getting undeserved media love at the end of the season

I thought everybody had Kentucky as pre season#1 with the greatest recruiting class of all time. :rolleyes:

[CDu]

It's because they picked Mich St at the beginning of the season. They still want to look smart. YOu see it happen in college football every season - pre-season picks STILL getting undeserved media love at the end of the season

Well, that and the fact that MSU is finally healthy again and is really good.

[Edouble]

Sparty is also way overdue.

When looking at the pantheon of great coaches over the last 20 years, you would have figured that Izzo and Michigan State would have nabbed more than that sole NC. Two apiece for Coach K, Roy, Pitino, Billy D.and Calhoun! Izzo belongs in any conversation with those guys. It's been 14 long years since Mateen, MoPete and co.

[Wander]

It's because they picked Mich St at the beginning of the season. They still want to look smart. YOu see it happen in college football every season - pre-season picks STILL getting undeserved media love at the end of the season

Couldn't agree more. The most popular potential upsets being talked about on ESPN by my count are the MSU title thing, Louisville being underseeded, and OSU and UK being super dangerous for Arizona and Wichita. What do Michigan State, Louisville, Oklahoma State, and Kentucky all have in common? They're the top ten preseason teams that have seeds that reflect underachieving seasons. People are basically just applying their preseason opinions here. Of course I'm not asserting that these upsets can't happen, but still, I can't wait for the likes of Kansas State and Harvard to bounce these jokers.

[tbyers11]

It's because they picked Mich St at the beginning of the season. They still want to look smart. YOu see it happen in college football every season - pre-season picks STILL getting undeserved media love at the end of the season

IIRC, Bilas picked Duke at the start of the season

[sporthenry]

Couldn't agree more. The most popular potential upsets being talked about on ESPN by my count are the MSU title thing, Louisville being underseeded, and OSU and UK being super dangerous for Arizona and Wichita. What do Michigan State, Louisville, Oklahoma State, and Kentucky all have in common? They're the top ten preseason teams that have seeds that reflect underachieving seasons. People are basically just applying their preseason opinions here. I can't wait for the likes of Kansas State and Harvard to bounce these jokers.

Kenpom actually did a study a few years ago that showed that Preseason polls actually outproduced the final AP poll so maybe they are on to something.

That said, 4 or 5 experts all picking a 4 seed is crazy. I like MSU and was hoping they would fly a bit under the radar but Florida, Arizona, etc. can just as easily win.

[El_Diablo]

IIRC, Bilas picked Duke at the start of the season

Yes, he did. But he is now saying that he has "been saying all along" that Michigan State is the best team when healthy.

[Newton_14]

Well, that and the fact that MSU is finally healthy again and is really good.
This.

Sparty is very formidable when at full health and Izzo has been quite adept to getting some of his teams with lots of regular season losses to the Final Four. If they stay healthy I would not bet against them.

Very interesting that both Digger and Seth picked us to make the title game. Did not see that coming. Means nothing of course, but interesting nonetheless.

[richardjackson199]

Maybe the ESPN analysts just checked the Vegas lines before they made their picks. Vegas has Florida and Michigan State as the 2 teams most likely to win the NC based on the brackets.

[Newton_14]

Maybe the ESPN analysts just checked the Vegas lines before they made their picks. Vegas has Florida and Michigan State as the 2 teams most likely to win the NC based on the brackets.
As much as I like a healthy Sparty, I will be picking Florida in my bracket. 26 in a row and only 2 losses is darn strong. Their two losses were by 1 point and I believe 6 points. 8 points separating them from matching Wichita St's perfection. That's reallly strong, even in a down year for the SEC. Anything can happen in a one and done tourney but if there is such a thing as odds on favorite, it has to be Florida.

[hurleyfor3]

As much as I like a healthy Sparty, I will be picking Florida in my bracket. 26 in a row and only 2 losses is darn strong. Their two losses were by 1 point and I believe 6 points. 8 points separating them from matching Wichita St's perfection.

Well, actually nine. Cuz you need to score one more point than they do in both games. :)

By this measure, Duke '92 was eight points away from perfection, and Duke '99 was seven away.

[Newton_14]

Well, actually nine. Cuz you need to score one more point than they do in both games. :)

By this measure, Duke '92 was eight points away from perfection, and Duke '99 was seven away.
Yeah I flunked math obviously. The 99 team had a realistic chance at running the table. Buzzer beater at the wire with Cincy and then the infamous title game. Still the most dominant Duke team ever in my opinion even falling short. They killed teams. Heck even 2014 DBR posters would have been hard pressed to criticize that team during that season. (Nah, some here would have insisted they should have won by more points and were fatally flawed. :) )

[_Gary]

Yeah I flunked math obviously. The 99 team had a realistic chance at running the table. Buzzer beater at the wire with Cincy and then the infamous title game. Still the most dominant Duke team ever in my opinion even falling short. They killed teams. Heck even 2014 DBR posters would have been hard pressed to criticize that team during that season. (Nah, some here would have insisted they should have won by more points and were fatally flawed. :) )

Completely agree about the '99 team. Definitely the most dominant. Easily the best Duke team to NOT win the championship.

[WestVirginiaDukie]

Wow, all 5 ESPN analysts predict MSU to win it all. Not sure I can ever remember such a consensus. Not that I disagree.

Totally disagree.

[ice-9]

Louisville is playing really well right now and I didn't want to see them in our brackets.

But I think we can take them if it comes down to it for the Final Four.

Last year they destroyed us on the basis of two things: Peyton Siva creating offence and Gorgui Deng defending the post. Both of those guys are gone. Yeah, Russ Smith is going to have a monster game and their big guy Montrezl Harrell looks formidable, but I standby my preseason assessment that this year's Louisville is weaker than last year's.

Of course, you can argue that this year's Duke team is also much weaker than last year's, so there's that.

Still, I'd point to Michigan St as a more difficult match-up than Louisville. The Spartans are healthy, have great balance, have played together for a while and beat a very good Wisconsin and Michigan team.

If we lose to Louisville in the Elite 8 it would be a very good season. If we lose to Michigan St in the Final Four it would have been a great one.

But let's get through the first week before we talk end-of-season, because while this Duke team can beat anybody when firing on all cylinders, this is also a team liable to losing to inferior teams.

[Chicken Little]

I just saw that Gregg Doyel, notorious Duke hater, has us going out to UMass in the second game on the 'expert' brackets on cbssports.com. I'm almost surprised he has us over Mercer.

[Son of Jarhead]

Vitale was the only one NOT to advance us to the Elite 8. So much for the "Dukie V" crap.
___

The '99 team was great, agreed... loaded with talent up and down the roster. Let's not forget the '86 team, though, a 37-3 record and the 3 losses were by a total of 13 points. Just goes to show, I guess, just how hard it is to win the whole thing.

[Matches]

Yeah I flunked math obviously. The 99 team had a realistic chance at running the table. Buzzer beater at the wire with Cincy and then the infamous title game. Still the most dominant Duke team ever in my opinion even falling short. They killed teams. Heck even 2014 DBR posters would have been hard pressed to criticize that team during that season. (Nah, some here would have insisted they should have won by more points and were fatally flawed. :) )

We would've spent a ton of bandwidth complaining that Taymon Domzalski wasn't playing enough..

[Troublemaker]

We would've spent a ton of bandwidth complaining that Taymon Domzalski wasn't playing enough..

How could Trajan allow Melvin Levett to go by him for a dunk and end the game like that?

This team is a Sweet 16 team AT BEST!

[Matches]

How could Trajan allow Melvin Levett to go by him for a dunk and end the game like that?

This team is a Sweet 16 team AT BEST!

I think Taymon could be an elite rim protector since he is, y'know, tall and all. Why K is intentionally holding this kid back is a mystery. :)

[OldPhiKap]

I think Taymon could be an elite rim protector since he is, y'know, tall and all. Why K is intentionally holding this kid back is a mystery. :)

I forget -- did we have trouble developing big men back then, or is that a post-internet meme?

[CDu]

I forget -- did we have trouble developing big men back then, or is that a post-internet meme?

Well, the internet definitely existed back then. And Burgess was probably the first example of our inability to develop big men. So that theme hadn't yet taken off.

That 1999 team was amazing. They regularly blew good teams out. We were more likely beat a team by 40+ than to have a team keep it within single-digits - even in conference play! Just the most dominant team I've ever seen. Unfortunately, we just didn't have it in that title game (against a very good UConn team playing their best basketball).

That was a very sad night for me in Cameron.

[Kfanarmy]

I forget -- did we have trouble developing big men back then, or is that a post-internet meme? I'm not sure meme is a good description of the argument about whether or not Duke develops its big men. There are valid points to both sides of that discussion.

[Troublemaker]

Maybe the ESPN analysts just checked the Vegas lines before they made their picks. Vegas has Florida and Michigan State as the 2 teams most likely to win the NC based on the brackets.

One thing I like about Duke's bracket is that Fla and MSU are ALL the way on the other side of it. If Duke can somehow make it out of the Midwest, we will very likely be favored in the Final Four game against the representative from the West. And then hopefully neither Fla or MSU makes it to the championship game.

That's a lonnnnng way away though. Mercer first.